"Firmly in the front ranks of the new wave of British horror."
- The Guardian

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Fear The Slitten...

In my study I have a large corkboard screwed to the wall. This is my brain board; it's where I stuck pictures, photos, poetry, song lyrics, articles, etc, that influence the novel I'm currently working on.

In The Concrete Grove there are ambiguous creatures called The Slitten. If you want to know a little bit about them before reading the novel, take a look at my story Owed in How to Make Monsters. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until next year, when the novel is published by Solaris.

Above is a photograph I took on holiday this year in Normandy. It's a photo of a photo. There was an exhibition of nature photography in a park near where we were staying, and when I saw this image I immediately thought of The Slitten. They don't look exactly like this, but it's close enough that I had shivers. I think what's depicted here is the dessicated corpse of a lizard perched on a cactus...but to me it's The Slitten.

This photo fucking terrifies me. Imagine waking up and finding that thing sitting on the edge of your bed, rocking back and forth on its dried-out little haunches. And chuckling softly.